Putnam Taps Co Investment Heads

Putnam announced that it had hired Charles Haldeman and
promoted Steve Oristaglio to be co-heads of investment,
Reuters reported. Oristaglio is now deputy investment
head.

Former investment head Tim Ferguson will stay with
Putnam and focus on strategic initiatives and alternative
investments, according to the Reuters story.

The move comes as Putnam, which oversees $260 billion in
assets, is grappling with the effects of declining stocks
and other staff changes, according to Reuters.

Investment management revenue tumbled 17% in the second
quarter, Putnam said. Industry analysts estimate that
investors pulled more than $10 billion from the firm’s
funds in the first eight months of the year.

High-profile fund managers, including Colin Moore who
was Putnam’s chief investment officer for global and
international equities, quit for other jobs this summer at
the same time the firm was making another round of
layoffs.

Haldeman, who earned law and business degrees from
Harvard University, was most recently president and chief
executive officer at Delaware Investments and Lincoln
National Investment Companies.
Before that he worked at United Asset Management Corp.,
Putnam said.